Anomalous

Chapter 10: Visiting Day

They were back at their headquarters. Alpha congratulates her for showing bravery and wise decisions.

"If you're ranked above the red line, you'll move onto the second stage of training. If you're below it, we'll waste no more time on you. Here are your rankings," Maximo announces.

Hades is in a terrible mood because of his team's capture-the-flag loss.

At lunch, Mega sits with Aion and Hemera, and they discuss the facts of their previous coalitions. Candidus and Abnegatus, don't usually associate with each other, even though Candidus' real problem is with Amicus.

Mega wakes from a bad dream to find that the word "Pawn" is spray painted across her mattress in red, and written smaller along the bed frame and on her pillow. Eos was the one who did it.

Aion helps her clean it up and expresses his sorrow that he'll be known as the first guy who knocked someone out during initiation, even though Ron is not angry about his defeat.

Hemera informs Mega that they'll be going on a field trip to the city fence the next day to learn about Domitare's job.

Aion hangs around Mega's bed for a minute and admits that he has begun to purposefully lose fights because he doesn't want to hurt people. Mega insists that this doesn't make him a coward, but he doesn't believe her. They discuss the approaching Visiting Day, during which families of transfers are allowed to visit their children one more time. Mega doubts her family will show up. That night, she slips back to the dormitory, so Allesandro won't have the satisfaction of putting her in the hospital overnight.

Initiate Rankings:
1. Clark
2. Eos
3. Thaddeus
4. Allesandro
5. Kira
6. Lysandra
7. Ron
8. Scott
9. Hemera
10. Clarissa

Finally, Mega and Aion got into the above line, Mega is in the 20th spot followed by Aion.

It's the day before Visiting Day, and Mega doesn't know if her parents will be there, or even if she wants them to. While trying to get dressed, she notices that she's beginning to develop muscles she never had before, and her pants no longer fit. She walks back to the dormitory in her towel, but Melpomene, Eos, and Allesandro begin taunting her immediately, and Eos pulls the towel off her, leaving her completely naked. She runs away to the bathroom and decides in some way or another, she'll hurt them.

...

Mega is paired with Lysandra for her fight that day, and even though she wants to go up against Eos, she's satisfied. She holds her own against her, and the minute Lysandra's down she begins to beat her repeatedly. When Lysandra's face is covered with blood, Alpha tells her to stop, as she's already won. She doesn't feel guilty at all.

At last, it's Visiting Day. Hades warn them, "tribe before blood".

He pulls Mega aside and says he may have underestimated her. Most of the families that show up are Domitare, but a few of the transfers see their families as well. Aion's parents, Ron's sister, and Hemera's mother and sister are there. Mega scans the crowd and to her surprise, spots her mother and runs into her arms. Mega asks about her father, and her mother admits that he was selfish and didn't come. She isn't allowed to visit Apollo, because Abnegatus is no longer permitted from entering the Eruditus compound. The tension between the two coalitions is sky-high.

Mega introduces her mother to Alpha, all the while harboring a suspicion that Alpha transferred from some other coalition since his family isn't there and he's very stiff when shaking hands. Alpha tells Mrs. Crawford that she is doing well, and she remarks that he looks a little familiar, but she can't put her finger on it.

She also introduces her mother to Ron and Hemera's families, and Ron's older sister Natalie glares at them; as an Eruditus, she is not fond of Abnegatus. She accuses Mrs. Crawford and Abnegatus of stealing the food they deliver to the homeless for themselves, while Eruditus doesn't get any fresh food. Before Mega can punch her out, her mother steers her away down an empty, dark hallway.

She asks her questions about her initiation, and Mega wonders how she knows so much about the process. When she says she's ranked near the bottom, her mother is relieved and says that they won't pay attention to those near the bottom. When she asks about her aptitude test results, She admits they were inconclusive, which Mrs. Crawford says she expected, since many Abnegatus children receive that result. She warns her, just like Nyx did, to never tell anyone else, and then instructs her to go visit Apollo and ask him to research the simulation serum as soon as initiation is over. Mega is completely perplexed. After her mother leaves, she puts two and two together and realizes since her mother knows the compound and the initiation process inside and out, she must have once been Domitare.

In the dormitory, Aion reveals that he hid from his parents because he didn't want them to know how badly his initiation was going. His parents always wanted him to come to Domitare, and at first, he wanted to, too, because he believed that bravery should be standing up for people, not hurting them for no reason. He comments on feeling braver when he's around Mega and then tries to put his arm around her, and she suddenly realizes that Aion has had feelings for her all along. But when she shies away, things become awkward, and Aion promptly leaves the room.

In the dining hall, there's a lot of speculation about the ranks that will be released later that day. The conversation turns to aptitude tests, and the Candidus transfers realize that Mega is hiding something from them; she did not kill the dog during her aptitude test, which everyone had to do to get Domitare. She says quickly that she didn't get Domitare, she got Abnegatus, which is partly true, and accurate according to the result Nyx reported.

Later, Alpha explains how the ranks work. The second stage of initiation will be weighted more than the ranks they receive for the first stage, which they just completed. He reminds them that in stage two, they will be judged equally with the Domitare-born initiates.